CITY BAND.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10065, 1 August 1925, Page 2

CITY BAND.

FIFTIETH ANNUAL REPORT

The report cl the Gisborne <J.xy p-rcseiicou uc mo- amiuui inct-i,-.i.g on •i.’uui-su..y, .s os loiuws: — ,i..i pjoseu'cmg me idiuem uxiuua. ropwru ui olii; Dana's career, tne coma.btCo w-snes vo externa uieir thanks tame LYvk/ens'’ Executive Lomina>ljo far vJieu- unt.rmg eifoi-ts in ad matte) s ioi thp v. chare or tne pane., to an those lau.es and gentlemen who have so generously assisted at various functions lor and on behalf of tho uanet, to the outside comin.ttee who so ably assisted the band’s finances during tlie year, to the local press, and to all those who have assisted in any way whatsoever. During the, j car tho baud lias passed through a very eventful period, with so many changes and incidents. It is pleasing to he able to report that, notwithstanding the many obstac.es, the strength and finance of the band is still satisfactory. During the year the hand lost the valuable services of a number of esteemed members m Messrs. A. Baker, W. Harris, and It. Stewart, who left the district, and tho committee take this opportunity to record our appreciation for their past services. However, the numerical strength has been more than retained by the addition of new members, the roll at present numbering , 30. Practices held during the year j numbered 98 and dr.li parades IL ! The band also turned out on about 4.0 j other occasions.. including the follow- j ing:—(Public functions 8, race days J 5, shows 3, sports 5, entertainments j 5, Sunday programmes G. j programmes 10. The concert pro- j grammes rendered this past year have j been fewer, than in former years, ow- ; ing to the many changes that inter- j for-ed with the usual routine work. | However, they were fairly well atten- 1 ded by the public and produced some , revenue. On the other hand, the hand . plavs on numerous occasions when no collections are taken. The annual hall was held in August and. apart from . being an entirely successful , socal : function, made a net profit of about-; £2O, thanks chiefly to the energet’c Ind'es’ committee and to the assistance given by tlie committee. The town district only was carolled during tho Xmas season, but owing to lack of time some parts of tlie borough were not visited. The financial resu’t, however, compared quite favorably with former years, especia ,'y so seeing that the usual Now Year programmes were foregone in favor of the Ponsonby Boys Brass Band then visiting here. Tlie Band attended the champ ovsh'n contest in Auckland in February last, competing in the B Grade, hut, unfortunately, were not successful in srett ng into the coveted nos t ons. Third place in the Quickstep, carrying a £lO prize, was the best attained hut- throughout the "’hole contest tho baud was in tuo lead ng half of its grade and gave quite a erocVtable account of itself. Apert fron’i the usual solid train ng uudei Drum-Major Me-Loughlin in Gisborne, the band also has to thunk. Mr. AA - Tuck-ay of Ashburton, for bis assistance at the contest. The band trav“l'ed overland to and from the contest and apart from being the cheaper method, gave the members a much more enievab'o trip, the many momornhbv incidents of wh'ch have . been fully dnec'-ihod in f lic manager’s (Mr AY.”A. Robertson) report. During the course of tho year the hand has been exceedingly unfortunate with regard to the pos’tion of conductor. In the first case early, in the year, we lost tho services of our conductor by the re.s’gnation of Air 11. Langtry from that position. Later the position was filled by the appointment of Mr A. TC. Lawrence, who carried on during the major part of the year and piloted. tlie band through the contest. The next inc’dent marks, it is thought, one of the saddest occasions in the band’s history, as our late conductor, through illness, wli.cli he bore with great fortitude through tlie strenuous contest per od unknown to the hand was compelled to remain behind in the Waikato while the baud was returning home from tlie contest. A. few days later the sad news came through that Air Lawrenc-e had gone West, having, in a true sense, died in harness. The hand lias s'lice been without a conductor, and the handmaster. Mr H. J. Murphy, lias taken the baton meantime. The pos tion of conductor is tlie main question in the immediate, future. The position of chairman was also rendered vacant during the year by the resignat on of Mr G. Buscke. Later the position was accepted again by Air. A. T. J ones.

The hand com me need the year with an overdraft of £l3O odd. now : t is understood that when the executive committee hands over the. ! management to the hand at the an- ■ nual meeting, there wi'.l ho a dehit l-alance of under £2O, which, when deducted from a sum of £IOO held in trust for the hand in the P.O. Savings Bank, leaves the band in credit to the extent of about £BO. Thus during the year the position lias : '■hanged from £l3O debit to £BO eml- j it (approximately) which, when view- I ed together with the large expend!- J ture in attending the recent Au’clc- j land contest (about- £3oo'' shows a 1 very fine position. Apart from the ordinary revenue of the hand, which it is thought, was below normal for the year, this satisfactory position was brought about bv the committee . of the recent carnival and art union, j which were held during the wear. To , this committee, therefore, formed or j both bandsmen arid outside supporters. we are deeply indebted. The com- i mittce was formed in October of last year, with Mr G. Tluscke as chairman, with the initial object to raise funds fo enable the hand to attend the Auckland contest.. They concentrated on two separate methods of raising the money—the Wonderland Carn val and the "City Band Art Union. Mr J. Vita was appointed organiser of the carnivab while Mr M. V. Be l was given the management of the art union and the position of treasurer for the committee. Messrs S. Nunns and H. H. Hackett wore appointed joint seeretar es, but the latter, after doing yeoman service at the carnival, was reluctantly compelled to rct’re owing to ill health, and the j bulk of the work fell to the remaining ! secretary. The way this committee j and Call their; supporters worked and i brought their labors to success was j very gratifying as the net profit made j bv them totalled no ’ess than £468 19s 7d. This was made up of net profit carnival £72 6s 7d. net profit' art union £396 13s 6d The whole of the sum was handed over to the hand. £368 19s 7d being pa’d to +hn band’s ordinary account, wh’le £l9O was handed over to Messrs. A. T. .Tones and G. Btisclce to own a: Savings Bank account on behalf o,f the hand. Since the committee closed their operations an extra- £2 Is .was received re art union and paid cl reel, to the hand in cash. It is understood that the recent Citizens’ Executre Comm’ttce are retir ng and that thereis to he an alteration in the system of managing the hand at) tlm annual mer'ting. The geutlem°n of this committee have spent numb of their,score t : m° for a number c-f wears, past m band matters and wd take tins option* t.unitv of o'-press'n" our apnreciat on for t.lm'r efforts, Mr J. Gbrirn- has pocumed tlm office of secretary during . the whole of the committee’s life and we'. heartily thank him for the great amount ot time he has spent for us ■'nd. Tor his years of energetic work for the hand. . tn conclusion, the committee submit this report show’ng we copsiWe** a verv satisfactory year’s work and once the position of eenductorys_:-g----ain fdled we. oons’der there should 1w no difficulty in the. way of tlm band making rated. progress. Fman"*ig still seems to be ono of the pro minus

that hn.fi to he faced but we may mention. that tho xriiuiagenieiit hi.a new; ideas in. this direction; A ready extra assistance has been given -by tho Borough Council and they are to ho thanked for incrbiisiiig ‘the suosidy so generously. Front tiio scanty records that are avai'lab’e, it seems that this is tho fiftieth year.of the. Band’s history. the hand having originated somewhere about 1875 . Hon so V.i'/b is the jubilee year of the Gisborne ( itj Band find wo trust that ah w.il put their shoulders !o the wheel end rou e the eostt'ng year I! o sucress that such an occasion warrants.